Another trip north, another highly educational evening. We managed to derail the conversation in class at almost every single turn, but it ended up being the night we learned the most thus far. We were supposed to cover primarily mortgages and the rules of financing, and we covered every tangent from what happens when the lender is a no-show at closing to dressing appropriately for your client, whether that puts you in bespoke suits or jeans and flip-flops. A few times over the last week or two, the homework has overwhelmed me, and I've wondered what I've gotten myself into. Oddly, just as the pace of the class and the volume of information has begun to accelerate, the more I feel like I'm getting a handle on all of this knowledge. I'm still going to have to study my ass off for the exam, to remember things like "In Colorado, how many days from when the public trustee posts the Notice of Election and Demand does a homeowner in default have to get current on payments and late fees before his equitable right of redemption expires and the property is sold?" (Answer: 110-125 days on residential, non-agricultural properties, and 215-230 days on agricultural properties, I think.. I need to consult my notes on that second time span.) But I do think I'm absorbing this material well, and I believe that I'm going to survive in this business.
Our instructor is putting together a proposal for a continuing education class for brokers on the 2016 changes to the Colorado contracts, and he gave us a heads up about some of the big details to come. For example, by federal regulations, everyone used to get a HUD-1 statement that laid out exactly what every closing cost would be, down to the penny, the day before closing. There is a current transition to a new required statement of the same thing, now due six days before closing. This and the other changes are most likely going to serve to extend the average time to closing from around 30 days to as much as 45. It may make it more difficult for people to only move once, out of the homes they are selling and into the new ones they are buying. There may be an unavoidable delay between the actions. Where does that put people? Will we see dates of possession move out well past the date of closing? In an attempt to protect the consumers, we may see a lot of things that actually make the process of buying and selling less smooth than it already is.
Our instructor warned us that some of the new laws will make it that much harder for a seller and buyer to handle this transaction on their own, leaving out the licensed broker middlemen. I'm conflicted by that. This means that I will have more job security, but it might not translate into customers and clients who appreciate that my involvement is necessary. We shall see how that plays out, once I'm fully licensed and learning the ropes. I can't wait to get there and find out.
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